1 Apr 04 Morning Brief

The brief that greets Rumsfeld on the ride into work, now available to you via The Mudville Gazette. Enjoy.

TOP STORIES

1. U.S. Civilians Mutilated In Iraq Attack
(Washington Post)...Sewell Chan
Four American civilians were ambushed and shot or beaten to death here Wednesday by insurgents, witnesses and U.S. officials said. Townspeople mutilated the bodies of at least two of the men, dragged them through the streets, suspended them from a bridge and burned them while crowds danced and cheered.

2. 4 From U.S. Killed In Ambush In Iraq; Mob Drags Bodies
(New York Times)...Jeffrey Gettleman
...American military officials said the violence in Falluja, however chilling, would not scare them away. "The insurgents in Falluja are testing us," said Capt. Chris Logan, a marine. "They're testing our resolve. But it's not like we're going to leave. We just got here."

NA
3. Killings In Iraq Cast New Cloud Over Rebuilding
(Wall Street Journal)...Neil King Jr. and Greg Jaffe
The gruesome killing of four American civilians near Baghdad, and subsequent abuse of their corpses by a mob, cast a chill over Iraq's foreign contractors and raised fears that a spike in violence against civilians could further impede an already troubled rebuilding effort.

4. Descent Into Carnage In A Hostile City
(Washington Post)...Sewell Chan
From 10 a.m. until late afternoon Wednesday, all activity in Fallujah was clustered in two areas -- the busy downtown shopping district where gunmen ambushed and killed four American security guards, and the nearby Euphrates River where the bodies of two victims were suspended from a bridge and then burned on the riverbank.

5. Puerto Rico Braces For The Base Closing
(Washington Times)...Larry Luxner
After 60 years, the U.S. Navy yesterday officially closed its sprawling Roosevelt Roads Naval Air Station in eastern Puerto Rico — already dropping property values and flooding the surplus housing market.

6. Top Focus Before 9/11 Wasn't On Terrorism
(Washington Post)...Robin Wright
On Sept. 11, 2001, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice was scheduled to outline a Bush administration policy that would address "the threats and problems of today and the day after, not the world of yesterday" -- but the focus was largely on missile defense, not terrorism from Islamic radicals.

IRAQ

7.Anger In City Shows No Sign Of Abating
(Los Angeles Times)...Esther Schrader and Tony Perry
After a year of trying, the U.S. military can't figure out how to quell the rage in Fallouja, perhaps the most dangerous city in Iraq's most dangerous region.

8. Progress Is Ongoing In Iraq, White House Says
(Washington Post)...Mike Allen and Paul Farhi
After yesterday's brutal attacks on American civilians in Iraq, President Bush and his aides insisted progress continues there and vowed not to back away, as the United States did after grisly images of U.S. soldiers emerged from Somalia in 1993.

9. U.S. Optimism Is Tested Again After Ambush Kills 4 In Iraq
(New York Times)...John F. Burns
Hours after the deaths of the four American civilians who were dragged from their vehicle and mutilated in Falluja on Wednesday, an American general went before reporters in Baghdad with the air of measured assurance that has characterized every daily briefing on the military situation across Iraq.

10. A Deadly War Against Weapons Of Less Destruction
(Los Angeles Times)...Tony Perry
Hardly a day passes without Marine Lance Cpl. Donzell King being lectured about improvised explosive devices, which have killed and maimed more U.S. service personnel in Iraq than any other weapon.

11. Administration May Face Tough Sell On Its Next Ambassadorship To Iraq
(Los Angeles Times)...Paul Richter and Edmund Sanders
...A U.S. official in Iraq said those who have been under consideration for the post include Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz, senior National Security Council aide Robert D. Blackwill and career diplomat Thomas R. Pickering.

12. Vatican Plays Down Opposition To War
Unattributed
A top Vatican official played down the Vatican's opposition to the war in Iraq. French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the Vatican foreign minister during the war, said it objected to the means of disarming Saddam, not the ends. He said Pope John Paul II shared Washington's ultimate aims in Iraq. "The Holy See is not pacifist," he said. "It is a peacemaker."

NA
13. Thousands Protest Newspaper Closure
(USA Today)...Unattributed
Thousands of protesters blocked streets in central Baghdad for hours to demand that a newspaper shut down by coalition forces be allowed to resume publishing. Paul Bremer, the top U.S. administrator in Iraq, on Sunday ordered the weekly Al-Hawza, run by supporters of Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, closed for 60 days. Coalition officials said they support a free press but won't tolerate material that foments violence against American or other other coalition troops.

14. U.N. Council To Help Probe Of Oil Program
Unattributed
The United Nations Security Council said Wednesday that it will cooperate with an independent investigation into allegations of corruption in the U.N. "oil-for-food" program in Iraq under Saddam Hussein.

DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

15. Defense Dept. To Encrypt All Wireless Communication
(Washington Post)...Joab Jackson, Government Computer News
The Defense Department will soon issue a policy to guide the use of WiFi equipment, said Ronald Jost, the department's director of wireless technology. Jost spoke yesterday in Washington at the National High Performance Computing Conference.

16. Military Schools Producing Army Of Solid Performance
(USA Today)...Fredreka Schouten, Gannett News Service
...Defense Department schools, like those at this sprawling post on the Kentucky-Tennessee border, inspire fierce devotion, and with good reason. Students at the schools consistently rank near the top on federal reading, writing and math tests.

ARMY

17. Officer Tells Hearing Of Her 2 Sexual Assaults In Army
(New York Times)...Lynette Clemetson
For the first time since the Department of Defense ordered a senior-level investigation into reports of sexual assaults against servicewomen stationed in the Central Command area surrounding Iraq, an officer who said she had been sexually abused told her story on Wednesday at an open hearing before Congress.

18. Muslim Chaplain's Attorney Contests Military Spy Claims
(Washington Times)...Rowan Scarborough
A defense attorney filed legal papers yesterday rebutting the U.S. military's contention that it never accused Army Capt. James J. Yee, a Muslim chaplain, of being a spy.

19. General Called Unfit For Case
(Miami Herald)...Coralie Carlson, Associated Press
A Muslim chaplain appealing convictions on Army charges of adultery and downloading pornography argued Wednesday that the commander of the U.S. Southern Command should take himself off the case, saying a letter published in The New York Times proves bias.

CONGRESS

NA
20. HAC-D Questions Air Force On C-17 Contract
(Defense Daily)...Sharon Weinberger
The chairman of the House Appropriations Committee defense subcommittee expressed concerns at hearing Tuesday about the way the Air Force has handled the second multiyear procurement contract for Boeing [BA] C-17 aircraft.

21. House Backs 'Parity' In Federal Pay Raises
(Washington Post)...Charles Babington
The House defied Bush administration objections yesterday and voted to continue giving civilian federal employees the same pay raises that military personnel receive.

TERRORISM

NA
22. Kamikaze Terrorism Wasn't A New Idea
(Wall Street Journal)...Scot J. Paltrow
Despite official assertions that the U.S. had little reason to suspect before Sept. 11 that airliners would be used as weapons, there is new evidence that the federal government had on several earlier occasions taken elaborate, secret measures to protect special events from just such an attack.

23. N. Korea, Al Qaeda Union A Threat
(Washington Times)...Bill Gertz
U.S. military commanders in the Pacific warned Congress yesterday that North Korea could provide nuclear arms to terrorist groups such as al Qaeda.

AFGHANISTAN

24. Led By U.S., Nations Pledge Billions To Revive Afghanistan
(New York Times)...Christopher Marquis
Nations from around the world have pledged $4.4 billion in aid and low-cost loans to help stabilize and rebuild Afghanistan next year, with the United States accounting for about half of the contributions so far, American officials said Wednesday.

25. More Troops Join Hunt For Insurgents In Afghanistan
(Dallas Morning News)...Associated Press
A force of 2,000 Marines has begun arriving in Afghanistan as part of a stepped-up mission to crush Taliban-led insurgents and flush out al-Qaeda fugitives.

26. Afghan Army Moves Into Unruly Province Near Iran
(New York Times)...Carlotta Gall
...But the soldiers, sent from Kabul by President Hamid Karzai, are far more than a friendly presence. Since they arrived with their American trainers, they have quietly, without fuss, changed the political and military dynamics in western Afghanistan.

ASIA/PACIFIC

NA
27. Taiwan's Chen Touts Peace, Bigger U.S. Role In Region
(Wall Street Journal)...Jason Dean
President Chen Shui-bian tried to reassure the U.S. that he wouldn't draw it into a conflict with China, while urging Washington to take a "more active, constructive" role in bringing about dialogue between the two longtime adversaries across the Taiwan Strait.

28. Pentagon Announces Plans To Sell Radars To Taiwan
(Washington Post)...Bradley Graham
The Pentagon announced plans yesterday to sell Taiwan two long-range early-warning radars and associated equipment totaling nearly $1.8 billion in cost as part of an effort to bolster the island's defenses in the face of a Chinese missile buildup.

MIDEAST

29. Iran Restricted Inspectors, IAEA Says
(Los Angeles Times)...Douglas Frantz
An internal report by the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency challenges Iran's contention that it has provided international inspectors with free access to workshops where it has manufactured parts for centrifuges.

EUROPE

30. Powell Targets Europe Vision
(Washington Times)...Nicholas Kralev
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell yesterday became the first senior U.S. official to concede publicly that the United States and Europe have been pursuing different world visions for more than two years and said it was time those paths converged.

NATO

31. Karadzic Site Raided By NATO
(Philadelphia Inquirer)...Radul Radovanovic, Associated Press
Gunfire and an explosion resounded early today as NATO troops surrounded a building in Pale, the city where top war-crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic has taken refuge.

POLL

32. Most Say They Are Less Safe Since 9/11
(Washington Post)...Christopher Lee
Fewer than half of all Americans think the country is safer now than it was on Sept. 11, 2001, and more than three-quarters expect the United States to be the target of a major terrorist attack at home or abroad in the next few months, according to a new poll.

33. Clarke's Charges Gain Acceptance
(Los Angeles Times)...Ronald Brownstein
Most Americans accept Richard Clarke's key criticisms of President Bush's anti-terrorism record, but a majority also thinks that politics influenced the timing of the charges by the former White House aide, a Los Angeles Times poll has found.

BUSINESS

34. U.S. Deal To Lease Tankers Criticized
(Washington Post)...R. Jeffrey Smith
The Air Force negotiated a contract to lease refueling aircraft from Boeing Co. that could cost hundreds of millions to several billions of dollars more than it should, and followed a procurement strategy that demonstrated poor stewardship of Defense Department funds, according to a long-awaited report by the department's inspector general.

35. Tanker's Senate Backers Back Off
(Wichita Eagle)...Alan Bjerga
The senators who helped push Boeing's controversial 767 aerial-tanker program through Congress last fall backed away from it Wednesday, saying problems with the program's costs and capabilities and how the contract was negotiated must be resolved. "As we look at the facts, they are very serious," said Sen. John Warner, R-Va. and chairman of the Armed Services Committee, after a closed briefing on a report from the Pentagon's inspector general on the $23.5 billion agreement for the Air Force to acquire 100 refueling aircraft from Boeing.

36. Lockheed Deal In Jeopardy As Titan Bribery Probes Continue
(Los Angeles Times)...Bloomberg News
Titan Corp. said in a regulatory filing Wednesday that Lockheed Martin Corp. may not complete its purchase of the San Diego company if criminal probes into alleged bribes of foreign officials by Titan consultants aren't resolved by April 12.

37. BAE Systems Wins Two Weapons Contracts
(Washington Post)...William Welsh, Washington Technology
BAE Systems has won contracts totaling $170 million from the Army and Air Force to develop and upgrade weapons systems, the company announced yesterday.

38. Baghdad Oil Summit Still On For April
(Moscow Times)...Bloomberg
Iraq, holder of the world's second-largest oil reserves, will go ahead with a planned meeting with international oil companies and financial institutions next month as it seeks help to more than double oil output.

39.Hey, You! How About Lunch?
(Wall Street Journal)...Jonathan Karp
...In Iraq, meanwhile, soldiers plan to use such sound beams to communicate with people approaching checkpoints. They even could be used to induce headaches among people who don't respond to authorities.

OPINION

40. Dangerous Indecision In Iraq
(Washington Post)...Jim Hoagland
The Bush administration went into Iraq with a bold political vision of regime change and a daring military strategy that used speed instead of armored mass to conquer the battlefield. A year later clarity and decisiveness have gone missing in both the political and military spheres in Iraq.

41. Keep Freedom Of Press In Iraq
(USA Today)...Hassan Fattah
Closing a newspaper often hurts more than it helps. The paper could have been forgotten as an embarrassment. Its coverage may have been dismissed as yet another example of bad journalism.

42. The Long Haul
(Washington Post)...T. X. Hammes
Over the past nine months, the conflict in Iraq has emerged as an insurgency. While that fact is widely recognized, our policies have not adjusted to reflect the much longer timelines inherent to insurgency. Recent history shows insurgencies span decades.

43. Don't Cut The Hawsers On Law Of Sea Treaty -- (Letter)
(Wall Street Journal)...Sen. Richard G. Lugar
Your March 29 editorial on the Law of the Sea Convention fails to comprehend the damage to U.S. interests that could occur if we choose not to ratify it.

NA
44. 'Win-Win' Stories -- (Letter)
(USA Today)...Lt. Col. Ralph Sigler, USA
Regarding the debate on military-base closings, we need to look at “win-win” stories of prior closings, such as Quonset Point Naval Base in Rhode Island.

EDITORIAL

45. Dream-Filled Missile Silos
(New York Times)...Editorial
The Pentagon is foolishly racing to deliver on President Bush's grandiose 2000 campaign promise to have a still unproven, money-munching missile defense system deployed in time for the November election. It's supposed to provide protection against incoming ballistic missiles. But, so far, the rush into the old "Star Wars" dream amounts to an extravagant political shield.

NA
46. The Fallujah Massacre
(Wall Street Journal)...Editorial
It's always a good idea to resist the temptation for event-driven handwringing about Iraq. Nobody should have expected America's job there to be easy, and the car bombs and other attacks are intended by our enemies to obscure the genuine progress being made. That said, let us offer an observation: It is not a good sign that Iraqis feel free to mutilate the bodies of dead Americans in front of the world's TV cameras.

47. Fallujah Atrocity: U.S. Must Track Down Members Of Mob
(Dallas Morning News)...Editorial
It is hard for those of us who sit in our safe American homes to comprehend the barbarism on display in Fallujah yesterday.

- via email, facebook, twitter, etc.